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01 Apr 2015 8:27:51am

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Mr Rawlings seems to be saying the USA was built on ancient Roman ideals of liberty. Is there a contradiction here ? Eleutheria was a concept completely rejected by ancient Roman leadership. Political and military unity of the Roman kind seems to have made the US what it is today?

The ancient Greeks were not conquerers, invaders, nor empire builders, but settlers . Give me friendship with a settler over the rest any day. The war cry Eleutheria i Thanatos (freedom or death) was invoked by the ancient Greeks at the battle of Plataea (a pan Greek affair lead by the Spartans). Once the Persians were defeated , the military unification of ancient Greece was disolved.The ancient Greeks, it seems to me were against bigger is better, but rather top quality over quantity.

Look at the GFC concept of "too big to fail" in the US. A large concentration of power in a few hands is very unhealthy for the State as a whole.

The ancient Greeks were not perfect, but freedom for the city state (country today) and the individual did not come first and second, but first and first.

Mr Rawlings seemed to cringe when he stated the ancient Greeks were not particularly interested in money nor material gain, for gains sake. You need to ask yourself why is this the case ?